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Hammond & Irving, Inc. selected The PMA Insurance Group as its workers'
compensation insurance provider with one major goal in mind - improving
safety to reduce on-the-job injuries. PMA's risk control services have
helped to accomplish that with tailored training that's led to an 82
percent reduction in loss costs.
Hammond & Irving, Inc. (H&I) is an
85-employee manufacturer of seamless rolled rings and open die forgings
for heavy industry. Located in Auburn, N.Y., roughly 20 miles southwest
of Syracuse, H&I has been producing rings and forgings for the
aerospace, bearing, gear, pressure vessel and power transmission
industries and others since 1919. The manufacturing process is labor
intensive and requires the use of state-of-the-art hydraulic presses and
high-powered rollers, which routinely accounted for most of the
Company's workers' compensation claims and total loss costs.
From the outset, PMA worked closely with
Robert Gallager of First Niagara Risk Management, H&I's broker, to
develop a workers' compensation insurance program tailored to the
manufacturer's needs. Together, they designed a Loss Cost Reduction
(LCR) program complete with full risk control services aimed at
improving the safety practices in H&I's most labor-
intensive departments. PMA and Gallager met with H&I senior management,
including Ned Murphy, Senior Manager, to propose the program. H&I found
it met its top priority perfectly - improving safety to reduce loss
costs.
Assessing the Loss Leader
PMA, Gallager and H&I assessed the Company's
loss data going back several years and uncovered that the majority of
H&I's losses were coming from a single department that accounted for
less than 10 percent of the employee population. At the request of Ned
Murphy, Bob Bowman, PMA Senior Risk Control Consultant, visited H&I's
facility and performed a two-day Risk Management Assessment (RMA) of the
operations within the Lathe Department - H&I's longtime loss leader. He
conducted one-on-one interviews with Lathe Department employees to learn
precisely how their operation functions.
"We knew we had some serious safety issues,"
says Murphy. "We struggled, however, with getting everyone on the same
page as to how to address them. Bob's one-on-one interviews were the
turning point for our success. Our lathe operators trusted him to get
their message to the management team - and he did just that in a formal
and complete presentation of his findings."
In addition to the interviews, Bowman also
worked with the lathe operators to perform ergonomic analyses of their
workstations. He ultimately uncovered the primary exposures to be
related to the chuck and jaw portions of the machines and to the
handling of scrap metal once it was "turned" on the lathe.
Taking Risk Control Action
Bowman tackled the chuck and jaw issue
first. He used a force meter to measure the minimum force required to
adequately tighten these pieces of the machine, which was noticeably
less than most operators realized. In fact, many operators were using a
"cheater pipe" to gain additional leverage to ensure the chucks and jaws
were secure, often over-tightening them in the process. This led to
injuries when operators had trouble removing them for cleaning or
repairs. Bowman instructed the operators in the proper body mechanics
required to apply only the precise amount of force necessary when
securing the chucks and jaws.
Additionally, Bowman helped H&I develop a
"Lathe Department Training Team" and produce a training program that the
team could use in-house. The program includes training documents
specifically created for the lathe machines that address all aspects of
their safe operation.
"We developed an operator training process
in a `competency-based' format that has allowed H&I's local management
team to confirm a new operator's ability to safely perform a job prior
to placement," adds Bowman. "Now, when an operator is assigned to a new
job, everyone is comfortable with the fact that the job will be done
correctly, and most importantly, safely."
Realizing Safety and Cost
Improvements
From July 2006 through June 2007, the
department experienced only two lost time claims and realized an 82
percent reduction in incurred costs - a nearly $260,000 savings - over
the previous policy year. In fact, H&I recently hosted a safety
recognition luncheon to not only celebrate its safety improvements, but
also to commend its employees for their willingness to help make them
possible through training.
"I'm so impressed with Bob's actions and how
we've responded," says Murphy. "Moreover, how we addressed the Lathe
Department has become the cornerstone of our safety program. In time,
we're going to examine each and every department in the same way... and
hopefully with the same stellar results."
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